Post B2OWYJY8upNvPvbRhY by deborahh@cosocial.ca
(DIR) More posts by deborahh@cosocial.ca
(DIR) Post #B2ONc17eTEWDpwu2DI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T00:14:49Z
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Years ago I did a video about "Link NYC" I was mostly concerned about the possibility of surveillance through the cameras. Link NYC is a massive system that puts screens on nearly every block in the city. Mamdani has been cutting short informative videos about city services for linkNYC. He's using it to tell people things like "if you have a 3 or 4 year old it's time to sign them up for pre-k now"Maybe he can really do this. No other mayor has used them like this. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vIQQGL0qS3U
(DIR) Post #B2OObY7CQ1xlpJ22fA by Phosphenes@mastodon.social
2026-01-18T00:25:52Z
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@futurebird You filmed and edited this? Good job! I've done some of that, it's a lot of work.So how is LinkNYC a communication system, just through wifi? Or can you talk directly through it to other terminals?
(DIR) Post #B2OOgd4FQvlmdN4dIO by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T00:26:52Z
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Some observations about how linkNYC is used:* Emergency calls. This was the main reason something needed to replace the payphones. Even at time of removal payphones were still important for emergencies.* Information network: the screens can get information to the whole city in an emergency.* charging phones: they have USB ports where people charge their phones.
(DIR) Post #B2OP4HOTfR1UMdoUMK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T00:31:09Z
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@Phosphenes They have wired internet connections IDK if it is ethernet or just cable.Each also has a wifi hotspot but it's very slow and annoying to use. Using the web browser on the little screen is faster, but not very private. "The cameras are turned off by default, and footage captured from any active cameras is stored for no longer than seven days unless the footage is necessary to investigate an incident."I think public backlash has lead them to say this.
(DIR) Post #B2OPC55PJJLwVec5pY by matera@mastodon.sdf.org
2026-01-18T00:32:29Z
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@futurebird FYI, I've been mistaken for a homeless person. One time a guy gave me a 20 and told me to get a good meal. One block from my home. I didn't object. 😜 So it's not always easy to distinguish between homeless peeps and weird ferals. 🤣
(DIR) Post #B2OQMXtNAKO8hQXQMC by draken@masto.nyc
2026-01-18T00:45:37Z
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@futurebird My big complaint would be the possibility of juice jacking from the charging stations.
(DIR) Post #B2OR8LlNZ19QyxatP6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T00:54:17Z
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@draken The ports don't have the data pins connected, you can't mess with the tablet or anything through them. They just spit 5V. I guess one could make a dongle that could intercept the power, pass it on, but also mess with devices?I think it'd look pretty obvious.
(DIR) Post #B2ORk2QFv7rK0CgWR6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:01:05Z
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Hey, people in other cities than NYC:1. Do you have a way to charge your phone on the street?2. Are there municipal information screens? Do they show ads?3. Is there public wifi? Is it any good?4. Can you make a phonecall on the street even if you don't have a cellphone?
(DIR) Post #B2ORrQKlPtbMBndbSi by Shivaekul@infosec.exchange
2026-01-18T01:02:24Z
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@futurebird There is no way to select no option XD
(DIR) Post #B2ORwYGrKnQcFmFyWe by floatybirb@mastodon.social
2026-01-18T01:03:20Z
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@futurebird no to all for Chicago unless one of them exists somewhere I'm not ware of.
(DIR) Post #B2ORyGzWYC8hEzy8rQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:03:41Z
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@Shivaekul Yeah I'm revising the poll over that. People can comment about "public wifi" I guess?
(DIR) Post #B2OS6CqfpxOii1c1NA by cobweb@corteximplant.com
2026-01-18T01:05:03Z
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@futurebird metro Detroit suburbs: we have none of this as far as I know. I’m sure there are someCities that have WiFi but not mine. We barely have cell service lol
(DIR) Post #B2OSGSkHaUBYuNVti4 by silvermoon82@wandering.shop
2026-01-18T01:06:56Z
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@futurebird Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Smallish city, 133k people. Between Toronto and Ottawa, part of neither. No real way to charge phones on the street. We have had municipal WiFi at different times and qualities, but the project hasn't ever lasted very long. No municipal information screens, just a tourist information place downtown near city hall. I have seen payphones on occasion in recent years, though most are long gone. You can go into a store and ask to use theirs.
(DIR) Post #B2OSHO9m8NRgxwsYrI by geonz@mathstodon.xyz
2026-01-18T01:07:01Z
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@futurebird Our b usses have charging ports and ... based on conversation I heard on bus yesterday, people can get "blocks" to charge their phones from... ("Your next appointment, ask them for a block!" in a convo about all the different options for charging the phone.) No "municipal info" screens that I know of but there are lots of places (bus terminal, college places) with screens that have alerts for weather and that sort of thing when stuff happens.
(DIR) Post #B2OSJDC9rNUhY3rYlE by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:07:20Z
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@jamey I didn't know that the mayor's office could put announcement on linkNYC. But it seems there is some of the screen time that's allotted to the city. The last two mayors just couldn't be bothered to put much effort into it. There were simple text announcements but nothing like the mayor explaining important deadlines. Which seems like a public relations no-brainer. But it's also more effective at getting people to pay attention.
(DIR) Post #B2OSnSGwMsPazrWM1w by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:12:55Z
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@jamey The videos were much shorter and catcher than what you linked. They were produced to fit the screen shape, and had big text since there is no sound. They were short enough you could get the main idea walking by. These are EVERYWHERE it's the biggest screen network in the city. They make enough on ads to run the system and it's in good repair even after all these years. I don't know if I believe them about the cameras being turned off, but link footage has never surfaced.
(DIR) Post #B2OSrFd3JkjSwUfpce by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:13:36Z
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@xarvos No. This is about having a public place to charge.
(DIR) Post #B2OTJRUIouMdpY1WfQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:18:44Z
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Hmm. I think the backlash to this kind of system being a way to collect data made it not spread to other cities as much. Because the data is what's really worth the most with this system. The ads are fine, you can raise enough to keep it running and have staff and that's great... but that's not what some of the early supporters were hoping for. And so they moved on to those wicked traffic cameras and other schemes.
(DIR) Post #B2OTSk4j57kU5JUkPQ by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:20:21Z
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@jamey Yes, and the languages are localized by neighborhood because that's one of the features of the system. So I don't see the ones in Chinese up in the Bronx, but I do get English and Spanish.
(DIR) Post #B2OUOqWbGCI4sqErwG by Smoljaguar@spacey.space
2026-01-18T01:30:50Z
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@futurebird london has these (https://global.com/outdoor/roadside/street-hub-advertising/) which seem useful but I've never had to use, apparently they're also in other uk cities
(DIR) Post #B2OUSOmqKc0I0vWwng by liferstate@mas.to
2026-01-18T01:31:30Z
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@futurebird Some parks have phone charging stations, but only ones laid out or revamped in the past few years. Which is very much not all parks.
(DIR) Post #B2OVbYM8DsAcFixuhk by bk2204@mastodon.social
2026-01-18T01:44:19Z
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@futurebird Toronto still has payphones, but mostly in the subways, where they have a special button to call the police but can be used for regular calls as well. So I said "none of these," because it's technically not on the street but on subway platforms.There are also screens in the subway as well and the show time to next train, plus news and ads. Otherwise, publicly sanctioned ads (to pay the company that does trash and recycling pickup) are static, but may be PSAs.
(DIR) Post #B2OVw7E4HqIqBvzyeO by amsomniac@mastodon.mit.edu
2026-01-18T01:48:00Z
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@futurebird there was a pedal powered phone charger in cambridge MA for a hot sec but it barely counts. there's no formal way to charge phones I know of. there are lots of ad screens in boston and sometimes they have maps on/near them but usually they don't. there are MBTA ads. it's less useful than linkNYC and someone is probably still tracking bluetooth+wifi mac addresses in some more subtle way??
(DIR) Post #B2OVzE8l2HjSVLzxfU by burnitdown@beige.party
2026-01-18T01:48:37Z
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@futurebird there are payphones, but not many, and a lot of the ones that are outside are not maintained. they're often broken and filthy.
(DIR) Post #B2OWQM0PtsTWiZ23Bg by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:53:33Z
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@amsomniac I'm about 90 percent confident they aren't doing the tracking stuff at this point since in seven years it's never been used for anything and, due to this video, but also protests and articles they say the cameras are "turned off."Also their only income is ads, not data.
(DIR) Post #B2OWYJY8upNvPvbRhY by deborahh@cosocial.ca
2026-01-18T01:54:56Z
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@futurebird @mayintoronto I carry a loaded battery pack to recharge with. Or do you mean something else?
(DIR) Post #B2OWZH4RcNHQ1CAZk0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T01:55:11Z
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@deborahh @mayintoronto I mean public charging stations.
(DIR) Post #B2OXFNkXAzlQtXw2hk by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:02:48Z
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@Smoljaguar Looks like a very similar design. I wonder what London does with those cameras?
(DIR) Post #B2OXZSWP8xDdUFtq1w by mayintoronto@beige.party
2026-01-18T02:06:20Z
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@futurebird @deborahh Toronto has all of these things on transit, but not on the street. Every now and then you might come across a payphone still, but they're rare now.
(DIR) Post #B2OXtYP2zDgXWG2YYC by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:09:57Z
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@Linebyline Depends on how big the town is? Is one phone enough?
(DIR) Post #B2OXzBbsdwJuZ7jEVU by astronot@mastodon.online
2026-01-18T02:11:02Z
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@futurebird in #Albuquerque one of our bus lines has screens that give local civic information but also run ads and are routinely broken. No charging or public calls though
(DIR) Post #B2OYPB4HHTGOPiP9vs by glent@aus.social
2026-01-18T02:15:42Z
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@futurebird Suburbs of Adelaide, South Australia. All three. But given that wireless charging is a feature reserved for high end phones, not sure how useful that is. Local government clearly isn't going to put 240V power on a socket in the street, so their choices are limited.
(DIR) Post #B2OZe9QxjqqddxieoK by johntimaeus@infosec.exchange
2026-01-18T02:29:35Z
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@futurebird North Little Rock, AR. Nothing on the street. But phone and charging available in the library (when open), and all the bars/cafés have charging with no questions asked.City information is a large gentleman named Beaufort, who is officially a cop, but whose title is Ambassador. He and his crew also provide golf cart rides to people who need to get around downtown if they're mobility impaired or if the weather is bad.
(DIR) Post #B2OZgVxyvy0k6eI5Y0 by Smoljaguar@spacey.space
2026-01-18T02:29:02Z
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@futurebird apparently the company that manufacture them are uk based and have a delightfully shitty website https://trueform.com/news/
(DIR) Post #B2OZgXA4UVH9oQxG1w by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:30:06Z
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@Smoljaguar Why does the crappy website make me less suspicious of them?
(DIR) Post #B2OZkUWuDY7EoCWS8W by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:30:50Z
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@johntimaeus ya'll literally have a town crier? like of the olden days??
(DIR) Post #B2OaXdmAd3nffu6ASW by kristinHenry@vis.social
2026-01-18T02:39:41Z
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@futurebird Wait! I think some of our bus stop shelters have chargers. But I'm not sure how available they are.
(DIR) Post #B2OajiLTSwULK0MvKq by emmadavidson@aus.social
2026-01-18T02:41:49Z
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@futurebird Australia has a payphone network with phone booths everywhere, and it’s now free to make calls to fixed lines and standard Australian mobile numbers from those phone booths. Very useful for people who don’t have a phone.
(DIR) Post #B2Ob81nwlhhGciHRRI by johntimaeus@infosec.exchange
2026-01-18T02:46:17Z
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@futurebird Not a crier, he doesn't have a bell and yell stupid things like "All's Well." when they obviously aren't. Beaufort and his crew of ambassadors walk / golf cart around downtown most nights, with more when there's an event going on. They guide tourists to safe (free!) parking, advise about restaurants suitable for your group, tell you what events are coming up, and walk little old ladies across the street to the theatre. They also generally keep the peace in a way that most cops don't. I've seen them talk down a belligerent drunk, walk him outside and get him an Uber home...along with a card with numbers for several free therapy options. They have a radio, baton, and a tazer; no body armor, no gun. In 15 years I've seen a baton come out once. It was used on an arm with a knife, not on a head.
(DIR) Post #B2ObUKHUkmUcIYjYMi by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:50:18Z
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@johntimaeus Hmm to do the same thing in NYC we would need about 40 Beaufort's, one for each major superneighborhood ... probably more though. Nonetheless they could all watch a video each morning about what the latest thing was so they would be in sync. Maybe they could find the old time square elmos and have them do it.
(DIR) Post #B2Oc8zMHRtFrHRMTKK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:57:36Z
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@linuxandyarn @johntimaeus IDK. sound like one might need to take cover if true.
(DIR) Post #B2OcAZAzlQSQeopqLI by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T02:57:57Z
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@linuxandyarn @johntimaeus I just walked right into this one didn't I MY GOD WOMAN
(DIR) Post #B2Ocz7dju3cO1WO3Fo by jakemiller@federate.social
2026-01-18T03:07:02Z
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@futurebird @linuxandyarn @johntimaeus Sure it can(e)?
(DIR) Post #B2Od6E86AnLKB5yVf6 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T03:08:19Z
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@arclight @linuxandyarn @johntimaeus got em
(DIR) Post #B2OeayTAXykMXY3Wnw by johntimaeus@infosec.exchange
2026-01-18T03:25:06Z
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@futurebird We've got one group of ambassadors for a neighborhood of about 10k people. It's the downtown entertainment district. There's talk about expanding to three groups in other dense, business, or higher crime areas. Each group is roughly 5.That expansion would make a 4000:1 population to ambassador ratio. So New York would need 2000-2500 total, about 400 of those being supervisors who know the area well. They need to be visible, lightly armed, and willing to talk and help; rather than confront and escalate. It's true community policing. Walking around, not driving through.It would be a hard model to do in NYC, or any large metro. It'd be great, but hard to implement.
(DIR) Post #B2OjFzzgBSuMxQ50l6 by montaagge@dice.camp
2026-01-18T04:17:19Z
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@futurebird from seattle 1. If you are really slick, maybe.2. Yes.3. Absolutely not.
(DIR) Post #B2OqWsGYrsBpamyD3o by Longspeak@chirp.enworld.org
2026-01-18T05:38:44Z
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@futurebird None of the above, with the caveat I haven't been on the street downtown in years. So maybe?
(DIR) Post #B2Ore6izbrACPrHWFs by SuperMoosie@mastodon.au
2026-01-18T05:51:06Z
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@futurebird Local council renovated the local ferry wharf area.There are a few of these solar powered charging benches at the waterfront now.Down the big smoke, in Sydney, there are bus shelters, kiosks, toilets, information panels. The contact owner pays for the regular cleaning and maintenance.But the council also get to display information, event information and the police can have emergency information displayed. Eg NYE or VIVID they might use it to direct people away to other areas that are not over crowded.The city also has a volunteer ambassador program, that sees people at Circular Quay, and roving around the city, to give advice and knowledge on local landmarks, attractions, transport, shops and restaurants etc.They also have a town crier.
(DIR) Post #B2OtJOz2jD9As82lN2 by AndyHat@anti-social.online
2026-01-18T06:09:57Z
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@futurebird @jamey As Manhattan BP, Mark Levine used LinkNYC to promote Community Board meetings. and in the last week I've been seeing promos from assemblyman Alex Bores for his district town hall. I look forward to seeing Mamdani's videos, which I've somehow missed so far.I love some of the local artists they feature, too.
(DIR) Post #B2OvzVc6fTHlVPWMym by Su_G@aus.social
2026-01-18T06:39:59Z
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@futurebird Are Streets in Australian cities included? 🤔
(DIR) Post #B2OwuoD8CFRDgqA5pY by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T06:50:24Z
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@Su_G any city in the world but NYC.
(DIR) Post #B2P0a3Nuz6VIUEZ9Bg by oblomov@sociale.network
2026-01-18T07:31:25Z
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@futurebird this is hard to reply to because:(1) phone booths have become extremely rare, but they still exist and work(2) I have found a couple of solar powered bench chargers with USB ports around but never managed to get them to work reliably.So on the one hand, I'd like to check a couple of those, OTOH, «not really»?
(DIR) Post #B2P3e0To1jtuUutdvE by wmd@chaos.social
2026-01-18T08:05:44Z
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@futurebird @linuxandyarn @johntimaeus I would say it blew right over you. ;)
(DIR) Post #B2PJ03TN4vMbSnfGkK by darkling@mstdn.social
2026-01-18T10:57:49Z
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@futurebird Charge the phone on the street? No.However, we do have USB charging points on many of the buses. (Run by a company whose major shareholder is the council).
(DIR) Post #B2PXHWafTIE23GImVk by Phosphenes@mastodon.social
2026-01-18T13:37:51Z
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@futurebird Your suggestion that the camera feeds should go to public screens is interesting (because I had the same idea, haha). If a public space is covered with cameras but the feeds are all visible to the public, then it is still just a public space. Except that crime and police brutality will always have witnesses.
(DIR) Post #B2Pde6e4hT1zyC2wHA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T14:49:12Z
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@Phosphenes I wanted to make a suggestion that would make the power imbalance caused by one group having control of the surveillance data and how they are released apparent. As soon as these people imagine every ordinary person in command of such footage? Arranging it to tell our own stories? Then suddenly they find surveillance odious and invasive. They decided to just turn the cameras off rather than try my egalitarian surveillance experiment. (that may be for the best)
(DIR) Post #B2PjpRGQyp3YpOm9c8 by PTR_K@dice.camp
2026-01-18T15:58:26Z
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@futurebird @Phosphenes Is there a city office you could make your suggestions to?Mamdani gives the impression he's trying to be receptive to constituent concerns. Though, not living there myself, I'm not clear how well this translates to actually listening to and combing through proposals.
(DIR) Post #B2PmgKBgDmeY8VtiIy by BrahmaBelarusian@regenerate.social
2026-01-18T16:30:23Z
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@futurebird I lived in NYC for a few years (about a decade ago) , now live in a mapdot where even for people who found smartphones continually useful (I really don't & thusly rarely have one with me), I don't see any of these things as even plausibly helpful to anyone, a horse-drawn carriage loop up & down mainstreet and 1 or 2 parallel ones with a radio & camera or similar being far more sensible. But beyond that for the state capital that I tend to visit about once a week ( Jefferson City, MO ) & a further one that's actually larger (Columbia, MO), both having bus systems, I believe in most medical centers & libraries their are charging stations. Those bigger city's do have "information" screens that pretty frequently made me sick with their ads & PSAs, are near most charging stations, so I can avoid the entire mess together & generally do so. *Next time I'm in Jefferson & Columbia I will look at a few of the bus shelters, but to my current knowledge & easy lookup, beyond a few businesses with charging kiosks that aren't free unless you're a student, it's limited to libraries & medical centers. I am hoping to find out if the radioactive manure that Link is, has similar in any of the cities I now frequently visit. If I do find it in one of said cities, odds are I'll severely curtail if not end those visits over said mess.
(DIR) Post #B2Q55Q1bS9oeehIdsm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2026-01-18T19:56:39Z
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@Retreival9096 🤣🤣